Lace up your trainers and get on board with National Walking Month
Throughout 2018 the NHS are holding a selection of national campaigns and awareness days to help improve your health and wellbeing, and from 1st to 31st May it is National Walking Month.
Just 20 minutes walking a day will help to burn calories and increase your metabolism, improve blood pressure and the health of your heart. Even better, according to findings published in the journal PNAS last year, a walk in the countryside can reduce stress and anxiety, and with all of our hotels surrounded by expanses of fine English countryside, you have perfect excuse to book a weekend away.
Set in 312 acres of East Sussex parkland for example, Buxted Park Hotel allows for a gentle stroll in its stunning gardens or a longer walk through Ashdown Forest. Located in the heart of the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, nearly two thirds of the forest is ancient heathland – it is also known the world over as the home of Winnie the Pooh.
Alternatively, located deep within the New Forest in Hampshire is Rhinefield House Hotel. It became a National Park in 2005, the first ever in Southeast England, and is dominated by open expanses of heathland, bogs, woodlands and streams, all maintained through the grazing of ponies and cattle. With 143 miles of gravel track for walking, of which cars are not permitted, it is the ideal place to start increasing your fitness levels.
Wood Hall Hotel & Spa is nestled in 100 acres of rolling West Yorkshire countryside. The four boroughs that make up this county are rightly renowned for its industrial past but they also offer excellent walking opportunities, made famous by the Bronte sisters and more latterly, Last of the Summer Wine. From rivers and canals to moorlands and valleys, the area boasts numerous heritage trials, too.
If you want to know more about Nordic walking – it is far more than just walking with poles – then why not book a cheeky overnight at Fawsley Hall and take advantage of their Nordic Walking classes every Tuesday or Thursday. It is a fabulous way to explore the 38 acres of Northamptonshire countryside that surrounds Fawsley Hall Hotel & Spa. (Advance notice is required).
Offering a warm welcoming retreat after a long hard walk, treat yourself and loved one to a Hand Picked weekend away, and set the challenge.
